TRITONS PLAY AT NON-CONFERENCE FOE HOPE INTERNATIONALUC San Diego (5-11, 3-9 MPSF) takes a final break from Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play during a light competition week this week. The Tritons play a single match, at Hope International University, on Friday night, Feb. 22. First serve at the Darling Pavilion in Fullerton is set for 7 p.m. The UCSD men's volleyball program then hosts its alumni in an annual exhibition contest on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 23. That start inside RIMAC Arena is slated for 2 p.m., with admission free of charge. Hope International, the ninth-ranked team in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), is 5-4 overall. Following this weekend, the Tritons return to conference activity in Riverside at MPSF newcomer Cal Baptist on Friday, March 1. They then welcome in No. 2 BYU the next night on Saturday, March 2. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.

MATCH COVERAGEAll UCSD home matches inside RIMAC Arena again this season feature a live online video stream as well as live stats, both free of charge. Fans can access live video and live stats from the Schedule/Results tab of the men's volleyball page at UCSDtritons.com. Friday night's match at Hope International will have a live video stream (no audio) and live stats, free of charge.

UCSD SPLITS MPSF HOME WEEKENDUCSD produced a 25-20, 25-17 and 25-20 demolition of then-15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara at home last Friday night in a match that took just 71 minutes to play. The Tritons out-hit the Gauchos, .376-.202, with the visitors combining for a measly 3.5 total team blocks in the contest. UCSD hit a match-high .478 (14-3-23) during a second set in which it led from the first point to the finish. Nick Iorfino put down a match-high 12 kills on a career-best .556 hitting (12-2-18), adding a career-best eight digs. Chase Frishman himself got to 13 digs to lead all players. Carl Eberts contributed 11 kills. Hosting top-ranked defending national champion UC Irvine on Saturday, Feb. 16, the Tritons suffered a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19 and 25-21) loss. Cheyne Hayes, who had nine kills against UCSB, wound up with the match high against the Anteaters with 14 kills, hitting .500.

TRITONS RECEIVING VOTES IN AVCA POLLFor the third week in succession, UCSD is among teams receiving votes just outside of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, released each Monday. The Tritons had moved up in each of the first three installments of the listing after they were one of five teams drawing votes outside of the preseason edition of the rankings, and were last at No. 13 on Jan. 28.

EBERTS APPROACHING EXCLUSIVE 1000-KILL CLUBIn his final season of college volleyball, senior outside hitter Carl Eberts needs 77 kills to become just the fifth player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau. The product of Huntington Beach and Edison High School produced 89 kills as a redshirt freshman in 2010, before leading the squad in 2011 and 2012 with 326 and 335 kills, respectively. With 77 more kills, Eberts would join current members of the 1,000 Club and former teammates Jason Spangler (1,491; 2007-10) and Frank Fritsch (1,403; 2007-10), as well as Jim Waller (1,301; 2001-04) and former Triton women's volleyball head coach (2005-09) and current LMU women's coach Tom Black (1,268; 1993-96). Eberts once again paces the team through 16 matches this season with 173 kills (3.2/set). He ranks 14th in the conference.

SCOUTING HOPE INTERNATIONALThe Hope International Royals are members of the Mid-America Men's Volleyball Intercollegiate Conference (MAMVIC) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). At 5-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play, they have won two straight matches having not stepped on the court since back-to-back wins at league foe Johnson & Wales University in Denver, Colo., Feb. 13-14. HIU, currently ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, is led by Dominique Blonski (3.94 sets/game) and Torand Cheltenham (3.32 kills/game). Filip Tomicic (7.62 assists/set) and Shane Beatty (7.71 assists/set) share setter duties. UCSD holds a perfect 7-0 advantage in the all-time series, with the teams having faced off each season since 2007, including twice in 2008. The Tritons are 3-0 in Fullerton. Last year's meeting in Fullerton ended 3-2 in favor of the Tritons with set scores of 22-25, 25-13, 18-25, 25-13 and 15-12. It marked the first time that the Royals managed to win a set against UCSD. Tim Johnson is in his first season as the HIU head coach.

IN THE MPSFThrough matches played Feb. 17, Chase Frishman is fourth in the MPSF in digs at 2.35 per set and Carl Eberts is 14th in kills (3.2/set). Garrett Dempsey (7.96/set) and Mike Brunsting (5.64/set) are 13th and 14th, respectively, in assists, with Fred Stahl 12th in blocks (1.04/set). UCSD is third in team digs (9.32/set) and tied for eighth in assists (11.43/set).

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGSThe NCAA produced its first statistical rankings for 2013 this week, through matches played Feb. 17. Chase Frishman ranks 15th in digs per set (2.35), Fred Stahl is 21st in blocks per set (1.04), Carl Eberts is 27th in kills per set (3.2) and Garrett Dempsey is 27th in assists per set (7.96). UCSD is 16th in digs per set (9.32), 18th in assists per set (11.43), 22nd in kills per set (12.03), 24th in hitting percentage (0.226) and 27th in blocks per set (2.04).

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